Nina began her final exam for the term.

Absent

Today's lesson focused on identifying symbolism and characterizing the "Russian harlequin" as a foil to Kurtz and to the other characters engaged in colonial exploitation . Nina did well identifying the symbolic significance of the fog in the context of the confused Marlow seeking or hoping to find moral clarity when he meets Kurtz . However, as she had difficulty with some of the other examples, I demonstrated how to examine the text for clues and how to analogize objects to thematic motifs. In this regard, we analogized the lack of a fence railing at Kurtz' hut to Kurtz' lack of self-restraint that we learn likely has led to his moral decline. We then studied the descriptions of the "Russian harlequin " and noted his innocence as a foil to other characters as well as identifying his patchwork clothing as a symbol of European exploitation carving Africa into a motley patchwork of corporate colonies, Further, after noting the underlying racism in some of the passages, we studied Rudyard Kipling's very racist and famous poem "White Man's Burden" published about the same time the novel was written. Last, we reviewed Nina's study guide homework and supplemented her answers with further explanation and textual support where appropriate ,

We are reviewed content and preparing for the Final Exam.

During today's Spanish classes, we worked on some reading in order to improve Nina's reading skills.

During our first sessions, we parsed numerous recondite passages illustrating the motif of atavism and the theme of societal restraint vs self - restraint. We further studied the elements of foreshadowing and the narrative framework as the story jumps from Marlow's reciting the tale of his long ago journey down the Congo River and Marlow in the present addressing the frame narrator and the other listeners. As we examined Conrad's view of the suppressed but extant dark impulses of Mankind, we further noted Faustian references and discussed Kurtz' apparent bargain with the devil. During our final session we worked on writing an analysis of the use of foreshadowing in the first chapters. I assisted Nina in creating a topic sentence and in then maintaining a focus on a unifying idea. I further discussed and demonstrated how to combine sentences, how to create and join paragraphs, and how to use active verbs. For our next and final sessions, I have prepared 6 practice writing exercises that will work on this week and next week before Nina takes her final exam on May 4th and 5th.

We reviewed stock market terms and learned more about Bear and Bull markets. We watched a video of an expert and discussed his predictions.

During today's classes, we continued practicing conversational Spanish in order to improve Nina's speaking.

Nina took her final exam for the Business Law course during today's extended sessions.

As Nina completed a writing exercise on foreshadowing, this prompted today's discussion based on Nina's questions as to possible plot and theme outcomes. While the darkness motif clearly suggests a pessimistic view and outcome, Nina raised specific questions about Kurtz ' motivations and death. We examined how Kurtz may have become obsessed with ivory and wealth and in its pursuit exploited the native populations he initially intended to assist . The role of the crew of cannibals also aroused Nina's curiosity. In this regard, I discussed the motif of restraint noting how the cannibals can exercise self-restraint (by not consuming the crew for dinner) even without societal pressure and laws in contrast to Kurtz and the Europeans who in the isolation of the jungle devolve quickly in the absence of external restraints. Thematically, based on the foreshadowing , we entertained ideas of the novel's theme: What lies at the heart of Man's nature, darkness as the title proclaims ,or perhaps nothing which is perhaps worse. We further recognized the racist undertones in Conrad's descriptions of the non-white crew.